Hill on board to help Glenavon

Glenavon manager Gary Hamilton was joined in the Mourneview Park stands by a familiar figure within Irish League circles on Saturday as he started his five-match suspension.

Jason Hill made over 300 appearances for Glentoran as a player and shared Irish League title glory alongside Hamilton in 2009.

Now Hamilton has turned to Hill, who proved so reliable a figure across the backline, to add to Glenavon’s backroom team.

Both watched Glenavon’s weekend defeat of Coleraine but Hamilton has a roving role in mind for Hill.

“Jason has been helping us out for a few weeks now and it is great to have someone with his knowledge and experience associated with Glenavon,” said Hamilton. “I have been trying to get Jason connected to the club for a few years now.

“He will help out with statistics for some first-team games but it is more about using his judgement of players.

“Jason will scout potential signings for the firsts or under 20s, plus put together stats at times or even, on rare occasions, analyse the opposition.

“He will work with our reserves’ Andy Mathieson and Mark Ferguson, plus the firsts.”

Hamilton shared the changing room and pitch with Hill during time together at The Oval and shares a similar viewpoint.

“It will be great to have Jason watching players as we have the same idea about want to look for and value,” said Hamilton. “He also has a real passion for promoting and developing young players.”